Tonight on Arte: 11 years before love phew, Adèle Exarchopoulos shone in this solar film with Pierre Lottin

In February 2013, a few months before her revelation in Adèle's life, Adèle Exarchopoulos shone in a unfairly forgotten drama, pieces of me. Directed by Nolwenn Lemesle, this film tinged with black humor tells the story of Erell, 17 years old.

She lives in a small provincial town with her completely dysfunctional family. Between an unstable and authoritarian mother, an erased father, and a sister who fled this heavy climate, Erell is looking for her place in a chaotic daily life.

The teenager secretly films moments of her life with her small camera, as if to keep control over a world that escapes her. His universe changes the day his sister returns after several years of absence, bringing back buried injuries and awakening the hope of a different future.

Solar and endearing Adèle

Adèle Exarchopoulos, solar and touching, shines alongside a very pretty casting: Zabou Breitman and Czeky Karyo play parents, Adelaide Leroux embodies Sarah, the sister and several young budding actors make an appearance in this film like Côme Levin, Théo Cholbi or Pierre Lottin.

Revealed two years earlier in the Tuche, the latter makes a short but memorable appearance. He camps the young to the dog, dressed with a black hooded sweatshirt; He is a secondary character who appears stealthily in a sequence towards the end of the film.

This role, endowed with a few replicas, is mainly used to give daily material filmed by Erell, adding a touch of authenticity to his gaze on the small moments of life, walks, moments of transition, banal atmosphere that has become cinematographic. It is not at the heart of the plot, but contributes to the naturalistic and spontaneous atmosphere that characterizes the film.

Appaloosa Films

Family conflicts

Pieces of me are a film on the vagaries of the family which is in the form of a chronicle, seen by the eyes of the character of Erell and his camera:

“The chronicle interested me for the portrait gallery it allowed me to develop, but the film also needed a common thread to follow. This is where the work on the family has grown”explained Nolwenn Lemesle, of which it was the first feature film.

Note that the story tackles several subjects dear to the filmmaker, and that was found in his short featherweight in 2005: “For this first film, I wanted both to talk about the transition to adulthood, disenchantment, family repair and even more life in what it has simplest and stronger”she said.

Pieces of me is available on the platform Arte.tv And on the YouTube channel until September 1, 2025.